bela

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bela"

Languages (26)

Albanian • Aragonese • Catalan • Chibcha • Esperanto • Galician • Ido • Indonesian • Italian • Makasar • Mirandese • Northern Kurdish • Northern Sotho • Norwegian Bokmål • Old Irish • Old Occitan • Polish • Portuguese • Serbo-Croatian • Sotho • Swazi • Tagalog • Tswana • Turkish • Turkmen • Volapük

---

Page categories

Albanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بلا (bela, “calamity, misfortune, evil, trouble”). from Arabic بَلَاء (balāʔ).

Noun

bela m (plural belatë)

1. (colloquial) trouble

   Ç'na gjeti belaja!

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (colloquial) annoyance, nuisance

Further reading

• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[1], 1980

Aragonese

Alternative forms

• bel-la (with geminate /ll/)
• bel (masculine)

Etymology

From Latin bella (“pretty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbela/
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: be‧la

Adjective

bela f

1. strange (in certain expressions)

Determiner

bela f

1. any, anyone

References

• Badia I Margarit, Antonio. 1950. El habla del Valle de Bielsa. Barcelona: Instituto de Estudios Pirenaicos. 88, 232.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈbe̞.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [ˈbɛ.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈbɛ.la]

Verb

bela

1. inflection of belar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Chibcha

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish vela.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /βela/

Noun

bela

1. candle, cylindrical piece made of wax with a wick in its center, which serves to light

References

• Gómez Aldana D. F., Análisis morfológico del Vocabulario 158 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Colombia. Grupo de Investigación Muysccubun. 2013.

Esperanto

Etymology

From French bel, Italian bello and Latin bellus. First attested in Zamenhof's Unua Libro (1887).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbela/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: be‧la

Adjective

bela (accusative singular belan, plural belaj, accusative plural belajn)

1. beautiful, pretty

   Antonym: malbela

   • 1907, Filipina Esperantisto, Volumes 1-2‎^[2]:

     Kiaj belaj estas ĝiaj altaj montoj tute kovritaj de kreskaĵoj!

     How beautiful are its tall mountains completely covered with plants!

   • 1915, L. L. Zamenhof (translator), Malnova Testamento, Genezo 12:14.

     Kaj kiam Abram venis Egiptujon, la Egiptoj vidis, ke la virino estas tre bela.

     And when Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

Derived terms

• belega

Further reading

• “bela”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “bela”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.lɐ/
• Rhymes: -ɛlɐ, -ɛla
• Hyphenation: be‧la

Adjective

bela

1. feminine singular of belo

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from Esperanto bela, French beau, Italian bello, Spanish belo, from Latin bellus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbe.la/

Adjective

bela

1. beautiful

Antonyms

• leda

Derived terms

• beleskar (“to embellish”)
• beligar (“to beautify, embellish”)

Indonesian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Malay bela (“to advocate, to defend, to avenge”), from Sanskrit वेला (velā, “point, time, end”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbela/ [ˈbe.la]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: be‧la

Noun

béla (plural bela-bela)

1. sacrifice
2. living for someone else
3. avenger

Verb

béla (active membela, passive dibela)

1. to look after
2. to defend
3. to avenge

Derived terms

• dibela
• membela
• pembela
• pembelaan

• bela negara
• belarasa

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Lamma [Term?].

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbela/ [ˈbe.la]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: be‧la

Noun

béla (plural bela-bela)

1. intertribal oath to resolve problems in the West Pantar region, Alor Regency

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Ngadha [Term?].

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbela/ [ˈbe.la]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: be‧la

Noun

béla (plural bela-bela)

1. earring worn by Ngada women

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Bobot [Term?].

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbela/ [ˈbe.la]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: be‧la

Verb

béla

1. (dialectal) to drive animals out of a garden together

Etymology 5

Borrowed from Javanese ꦧꦭ (bala, “supporter; army; strength”), from Old Javanese bala (“strength”), borrowed from Sanskrit बल (bala, “power, strength”). Doublet of bala.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /bəˈla/ [bəˈla]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: be‧la

Noun

bêla (plural bela-bela)

1. (nautical) ship's crew

   Synonym: anak buah kapal

Etymology 6

Borrowed from Bulungan [Term?].

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /bəˈla/ [bəˈla]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: be‧la

Noun

bêla (plural bela-bela)

1. (dialectal) nontoxic chopsticks

Further reading

• “bela”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.la/
• Rhymes: -ɛla
• Hyphenation: bè‧la

Verb

bela

1. inflection of belare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• Abèl, Elba, albe

Makasar

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-South Sulawesi *bela (“friend”). Cognate Toraja-Sa'dan maʼbela (“be friends”)

• Probably also derived from Malay bela (“sacrifice; sacrificial victim”), pembela (“nurse, attendan”) or Javanese bela (“participate; share s.o. else's lot, suffer with s.o.; die for s.o.”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbela/, [ˈɓe.la]
• Hyphenation: be‧la

Noun

bela (Lontara spelling ᨅᨙᨒ or 𑻤𑻵𑻮, definite belaya, 3rd person possessive belana)

1. friend (usually male; for a female friend, see deʼnang)

Interjection

bela

1. hey; say (used when addressing someone)

   Inakkepa riolo, bela ― Me first, hey.

Derived terms

affixations

• aʼbela-bela
• bela-bela
• paʼbela
• sipaʼbelàng

compounds

• bela-bela singai

Further reading

• Cense, A. A. (1979), Makassaars-Nederlands woordenboek [Makasar-Dutch dictionary], 's-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, pages 97-98

Mirandese

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *vela, from the plural of Latin velum.

Noun

bela f (plural belas)

1. (nautical) sail
2. sail, blade of a windmill
3. spark plug

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بَلَاء (balāʔ).

Noun

bela ?

1. affliction

Northern Sotho

Verb

bela

1. to boil

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

bela

1. simple past of belegge

Old Irish

Noun

bela

1. alternative spelling of béla

Mutation

Mutation of bela

radical	lenition	nasalization
bela	bela pronounced with /βʲ-/	mbela

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Occitan

Adjective

bela

1. feminine singular of bel

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.la/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛla
• Syllabification: be‧la

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *balkô

Proto-West Germanic *balkō

Old High German balko

Middle High German balkebor.

Old Polish balka

Polish belkabf.

Polish bela

Back-formation from belka.

Noun

bela f

1. augmentative of belka; large beam, large plank
2. spool, reel, bolt (of paper or fabric)
3. bale (a rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation)

   Synonyms: bal, balot

4. bale (ten reams of paper)

Declension

Declension of bela

	singular	plural
nominative	bela	bele
genitive	beli	beli/bel
dative	beli	belom
accusative	belę	bele
instrumental	belą	belami
locative	beli	belach
vocative	belo	bele

Related terms

adjectives

• beleczkowy
• belkowy

noun

• beleczka

verbs

• belkować impf, obelkować pf
• belować impf

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

bela m inan

1. genitive/accusative singular of bel

Further reading

• “bela”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “bela”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.lɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛ.lɐ/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Homophone: vela (Northern Portugal)
• Hyphenation: be‧la

Adjective

bela

1. feminine singular of belo
   • 2005, J. K. Rowling, translated by Lia Wyler, Harry Potter e o Enigma do Príncipe [Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince] (Harry Potter; 6), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 135:

     Ele agora tem uma casa nas montanhas, foi Dumbledore que arranjou, uma bela caverna.

     He now has a home in the mountains, Dumbledore is who provided it, a beautiful cave.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

From bèlot, belȍt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bêla/
• Hyphenation: be‧la

Noun

bȅla f (Cyrillic spelling бе̏ла, genitive plural bȇlā)

1. belote

Etymology 2

Adjective

bela (Cyrillic spelling бела)

1. inflection of beo:
   1. feminine nominative/vocative singular
   2. indefinite masculine/neuter genitive singular
   3. indefinite animate masculine accusative singular
   4. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative plural

References

• “bela”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

Sotho

Verb

bela

1. to boil (something)

Swazi

Etymology

From -ba +‎ -ela.

Verb

-béla

1. to steal from

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbela/ [ˈbɛː.lɐ]
• Rhymes: -ela
• Syllabification: be‧la

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weǵ-der.

Proto-Indo-European *weǵlis

Proto-Italic *weglis

Latin vigil

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.

Proto-Italic *-ājō

Proto-Italic *-āō

Latin -ō

Latin vigilāre

Old Spanish

Spanish velardeverb.

Spanish velabor.

Tagalog bela

Borrowed from Spanish vela, deverbal from velar, from Old Spanish, from Latin vigilāre, from vigil (“awake, alert”) + -ō.

Noun

bela (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜎ)

1. candle

   Synonym: kandila

2. sleeplessness

   Synonym: puyat

3. vigil

   Synonyms: lamay, pulaw

Related terms

• belada
• bihilansiya
• bihilya

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *weg-

Proto-Indo-European *wegslomder.?

Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-der.?

Proto-Italic *wekslom

Latin vēlum

Vulgar Latin *vēla

Spanish velabor.

Tagalog bela

Borrowed from Spanish vela, from Vulgar Latin *vēla, from Latin vēlum, from Proto-Italic *wekslom, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wegslom or *weǵʰ-. Doublet of belo.

Noun

bela (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒᜎ) (nautical)

1. sail (a piece of fabric attached to a boat)

   Synonym: layag

Related terms

• belamen
• belasyon
• belo

Further reading

• “bela”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “bela”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972), Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 583

Tswana

Verb

bela

1. to boil

Turkish

Alternative forms

• belâ

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بلا (belâ), from Arabic بَلَاء (balāʔ, “affliction”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /be.laː/

Noun

bela (definite accusative belayı, plural belalar)

1. affliction, trouble

Declension

Declension of bela

singular plural nominative bela belalar definite accusative belayı belaları dative belaya belalara locative belada belalarda ablative beladan belalardan genitive belanın belaların Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular belam belalarım 2nd singular belan belaların 3rd singular belası belaları 1st plural belamız belalarımız 2nd plural belanız belalarınız 3rd plural belaları belaları definite accusative singular plural 1st singular belamı belalarımı 2nd singular belanı belalarını 3rd singular belasını belalarını 1st plural belamızı belalarımızı 2nd plural belanızı belalarınızı 3rd plural belalarını belalarını dative singular plural 1st singular belama belalarıma 2nd singular belana belalarına 3rd singular belasına belalarına 1st plural belamıza belalarımıza 2nd plural belanıza belalarınıza 3rd plural belalarına belalarına locative singular plural 1st singular belamda belalarımda 2nd singular belanda belalarında 3rd singular belasında belalarında 1st plural belamızda belalarımızda 2nd plural belanızda belalarınızda 3rd plural belalarında belalarında ablative singular plural 1st singular belamdan belalarımdan 2nd singular belandan belalarından 3rd singular belasından belalarından 1st plural belamızdan belalarımızdan 2nd plural belanızdan belalarınızdan 3rd plural belalarından belalarından genitive singular plural 1st singular belamın belalarımın 2nd singular belanın belalarının 3rd singular belasının belalarının 1st plural belamızın belalarımızın 2nd plural belanızın belalarınızın 3rd plural belalarının belalarının Predicative forms singular plural 1st singular belayım belalarım 2nd singular belasın belalarsın 3rd singular bela beladır belalar belalardır 1st plural belayız belalarız 2nd plural belasınız belalarsınız 3rd plural belalar belalardır

Derived terms

• belalı

Turkmen

Other scripts
Latin	bela
Cyrillic	бела
Arabic	بلا

Etymology

From Arabic بَلَاء (balāʔ).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: be‧la

Noun

bela (definite accusative belany, plural belalar)

1. disaster, catastrophe

Declension

Declension of bela

	singular	plural
nominative	bela	belalar
accusative	belany	belalary
genitive	belanyň	belalaryň
dative	belā	belalara
locative	belada	belalarda
ablative	beladan	belalardan

Further reading

• “bela” in Enedilim.com
• “bela” in Webonary.org

Volapük

Noun

bela

1. genitive singular of bel